Spirited Away
by akuma-river
Summary: The people closest to Tony Stark often joke about how he seems to be blessed or cursed because of the insane situations he finds himself in. Tony humors them while in the back of his mind he hopes that his family's curse never rears its ugly head. It does.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I know that I should be working on my other frostiron fic but it is to me a more difficult story to tell. Which makes it more difficult to write. So I need a break from it while I gather my thoughts on how to proceed.

I've been reading fics of multiple fandoms lately and I got this idea of a type of 'fuck or die situation' for Tony. So let me know what you think.

Akumakawa. Tumblr. com

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It was two months after New York that Tony started to realize that things around him were changing. It wasn't just the nightmares and panic attacks over the battle in New York and the void of space — Tony saw as he flew the nuke up to blow up the mothership — that seems to haunt him wherever he closes his eyes to sleep or allowed himself to think about what happened to him.

It was subtle at first. There was a time that Tony was alone in lab with JARVIS working on new armor when he felt like someone was calling his name from far away and he would turn his head and there would be a glimpse of a shadow at the corner of his eye for but a second, yet when he turned around no one would be there. Tony wanted to ask JARVIS if he heard someone calling his name but he decided to put it out of his mind as just one those phantom echoes people hear once in a while.

Tony would have liked to ignore it as a minor auditory and visual hallucination and move on with his current mental breakdown over New York and the void and his subsequent obsessive immersion in building autonomous armor as a coping mechanism, but the hallucinations kept happening.

It took a week before the hallucination appeared again. It was still a random enough occurrence so Tony let it go. He was starting to think that it was just another symptom of his mental breakdown due to the after effects of New York. There were things in the void. He could feel them in there and felt eyes upon him and could swear he could see them out of the corner of his head so Tony imagined that this was just tied New York. Auditory and visual hallucinations of memories is not uncommon with PTS and it wasn't like Tony was getting any professional help for his issues. He was basing everything off of wikipedia and JARVIS. So he was still fine. Nothing unusual. Just typical PTS symptoms. Nothing more.

Then the next incident after that was only a few days later. Then after another few days later was another incident. This wasn't just something that randomly appearing due to his PTS. Tony realized about a month after these hallucinations started that the frequency of them was speeding up. It may have began as once a week but in just a month it became four times a week.

There a was a cold pit in Tony's stomach as he looked at the data on his screen that was composed of time and date information on the occurrences of his hallucinations. _It_ is _getting worse._ Tony then added another symptom, the feeling of being watched, to it. The hair on the back of Tony's neck stood straight up as he felt something like wind brushing by him. Goosebumps broke out on his arms and a flicker of a shadow was spotted out of the corner of his eye. _Fuck._

Tony put it to the back of his mind and ordered JARVIS to turn up the volume on his music A/C blasting through the speakers as he finished up the touches on his latest armor. He wasn't ignoring the hallucinations and now the feeling of eyes and wind blowing upon his skin. He wasn't trying to pretend that nothing was happening, because something was happening to him. He just couldn't deal with it right then. It didn't feel _safe_ to think let alone to speak about it.

It was hours later as he finished up the armor and ordered JARVIS to put it with the others that he took a break. He called up the data once more. Looked at it for any sign that it was just his imagination. That it was just the PTS and hallucinations. But the cold pit in his stomach felt heavier than ever and he knew it wouldn't be that easy. Not for Tony Stark.

"JARVIS," Tony called out.

"Yes, sir?" His AI queried back.

"We need to do some blood work." Tony answered back as he walked to the area in his lab where some syringes were stored.

"Blood work, sir?" JARVIS questioned.

"Yes." Tony spoke as he tied off his arm and thumped his vein.

"I assume by your actions that it is to be your blood then? What shall I be looking for, sir?" JARVIS asked in his deadpan tone.

"Any abnormalities." Tony replied as he finished drawing out the sample of his blood.

"Understood sir." JARVIS responded as he turned on the lab equipment and readied them for the sample to be produced.

Tony extracted the syringe, undid the elastic tied around his arm, and cleaned up the injection site in the bend of his elbow.

"Ready sir," JARVIS called out to Tony.

"How long do think it will take?" Tony asked as he deposited the blood sample into the devices.

"At least four to eight hours sir. Perhaps up to a day or two as you have not given me any specific criteria of which I am to look for." JARVIS answered back as he began the tests.

Tony ran a hand through his hair as he stared out in the distance. _A day, maybe more. Then I will know._

"Sir?" JARVIS queried as he asked about his master's well being.

"I'm fine JARVIS. Just let me know when the tests are finished. I'll be upstairs." Tony answered he walked out of the lab heading up.

"Understood sir."

Tony didn't know what he was going to do when he got out of the lab. Maybe he will he just stand in front of the glass windows facing the ocean while drinking some bourbon. The more he thought about just standing there and watching the to and fro of the waves surging in and out from the ocean the more it sounded like a good idea. He needed something to take his mind off of the tests being done and the fear that was starting to claw it's way to the front of his mind and send him into a massive panic attack.

Pepper came home that night to find Tony standing watching the ocean completely unaware of her presence as she walked up near him. A chill ran down her back for some reason she couldn't explain. A fear she couldn't name. He was unresponsive to her calling his name and it was only when she touched his arm that it garnered her any reaction.

Tony's empty glass fell to the ground and shattered into thousands of pieces as he registered Pepper's presence by the touch of her hand. "Pepper," Tony spoke in a hushed hurried almost breathless tone as if he was spooked, "I didn't realize that you were home."

"I noticed." Pepper spoke as she glanced at Tony and his position leaning against the window and the wideness in his eyes. "Tony," Pepper whispered as she raised her hand to his cheek, "are you okay?"

Tony's tongue froze in his mouth as he wanted to speak and not speak his fears. Instead he just raised his hand and brushed her cheek, "I'm fine Pep, just lost in my thoughts. How was your day?"

Pepper knew there was something more going on but she decided to let it go, for now. She walked him over to the couch leaving the glass shards to be cleaned up later and they sat down. She talked about her day and how Stark Industries was doing. She knew Tony was deflecting but she allowed herself to be his distraction.

Ever since New York Tony had been jumpy and erratic. It was to be expected considering what had happened that day and how close she came to nearly losing him. Pepper was giving him time to get his thoughts back together and build himself back up. She knew he needed to seek a professional but that Tony would never do that unless things reached a critical level. Which was she was allowing him to pull back and retreat into his lab and build his suits. It was his coping mechanism and as long as it helped him it was okay by her. She wondered though how much longer it would take for Tony to start to be who he once was before New York.

That night as Tony lay sleeping after their activities she lay in bed watching him sleep and wondering what haunted him that he couldn't speak to her about. Was it New York? Or was something else brewing up inside Tony? She had never seen him so out of it as she did this afternoon when she saw him standing watching the ocean.

She lay her head upon his shoulder and wrapped him in her arms. She wanted so much to protect him from the world and the nightmares that wake him screaming in the middle of the night, but she couldn't. That more than anything hurt Pepper most about this situation. That and a fear she was going to lose him.

JARVIS didn't just run one test he ran a battery tests on Tony's blood sample for anything and everything that could possibly reveal any sort of abnormalities in his blood and DNA. It was because of this that it took three and a half days for Tony to receive the results of the tests. Three days of standing staring out at the drinking his alcohol and knowing what the result was going to be. He knew because the hallucinations wasn't just happening every other day as it had been lately. No it was everyday. Everyday since Tony took the blood sample there would happen to be a moment when he would hear something off in the distance calling his name and a flicker of a shadow out of the corner of his eye. Tony no longer turned his head when he heard the hallucination. He tuned it out and continued what he was doing before he was interrupted.

There was a tingle inside of him that responded to the calls he could barely hear. He knew it was his name they were calling even though he couldn't hear it properly. He could just _feel_ it.

It wasn't a surprise when JARVIS called him down to the lab and he was given his results. It wasn't a shock. Just a confirmation. Something unusual had been found in his blood work.

"Tell me JARVIS what did you find?" Tony asked his AI as he sat down in his chair in the lab.

"I'm not sure, sir." JARVIS replied.

Tony's forehead crinkled as he took in that news. "Not sure? How are you not sure? You had three days to run every test your could think of?" Tony responded frustration clearly heard in his tone.

"Yes sir. That was mainly because I was unsure about the results being conclusive and ran them three more times in order to be sure that the results were correct." JARVIS answered.

"Th-Three more times?!" Tony exclaimed. _What the hell? I'__ve been__ standing here for three days waiting for the results and you did them four times and didn't even tell me?_ "Why?" Tony growled out his question.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I had to. The results do not make any logical sense." JARVIS responded.

Tony frowned. _Shit._ He sighed deeply. _I knew it. I just fucking_knew _it!_ "Tell me straight up JARVIS..." Tony cut off as he took a swallow to gather his resolve. "What are the results?"

"An unknown substance resides in your DNA sir. If I was to hazard a guess I would say it resembles a viral antibody."

"Viral?" Tony queried.

"Yes, sir. It is acting similar to the HIV virus but with radically different outcomes." JARVIS answered back.

_HIV_?! "How?" It was all Tony could think of to ask while so many more questions and thoughts were racing through his mind.

"It seems to be replacing your immune system with its own antibodies. However instead of making your body weaker and more susceptible to viral and bacterial infections it is doing the opposite." JARVIS responded.

_Jesus fuck. That's how they do it._ "Could this have been a genetic mutation that suddenly kicked on? Like an autoimmune disorder that was laying dormant until triggered?"

"I do not know, sir. From the tests I have done it is possible. I would need to run more tests to confirm or deny this hypothesis." JARVIS' voice echoed his response as Tony felt the cold pit in his stomach grow heavier.

"What tests do you need to run?" Tony questioned as he absentmindedly thought about what this would mean.

"Tests that we do not have the equipment for, here." His AI responded.

"Buy the equipment then and have it shipped here." Tony replied back. He wanted the know. He needed to know. Even though deep down inside he felt that he already knew the answer.

"It would be easier and more quickly to travel to Stark Tower as it does have the equipment necessary for the tests and they are already set up." JARVIS replied.

"Fuck." Tony swore as he dreaded returning to New York.

"I would have the results done in a day if not hours instead of the weeks it might take to get the equipment sent here and set up." Tony knew JARVIS was right but he still didn't want to go back to New York.

"Fuck." Tony swore once more as he put his head in his palms.

"Sir?" Jarvis queried his master as he sat upon his chair in the lab.

"Set it up. I will go in the morning." Tony answered back as he got up to leave the lab. "Oh," Tony spoke as he recalled that he needed to inform Pepper but unwilling to be the one to do it, "inform Pepper of the trip while you are at it. I'm going upstairs."

"Yes sir." JARVIS replied as the optics in his cameras watched his creator dejectedly walk up the stairs. His recent behavior was starting to concern the AI but there was nothing to be done but follow his orders.

Tony stood in his new favorite spot looking out at the water and thought about what he knew was coming. He already knew what was taking place. At least the gist of the situation. He just didn't know how much time he had. He need the rest of the exams to give him that.

Once he knew then Tony could prepare.

They would come for him. He could feel their eyes upon his back, hear their voices in his ears calling his name, and spy them out of the corner of his eye now. It would get worse as time went on. He was a marked man to them and nowhere that he went would he be able to hide. Not the deepest mine, the deep crevasse in the ocean, the highest mountain, the brightest sun, the darkest night, nor the most tumultuous weather would stop them. What was a locked door to them? When they could just travel through it? They may be of this world but they were not a part of it.

As if they heard his thoughts the sound of laughter traveled faintly to his ears. This was a game to them. One they fully expected to win.

Tony would show them differently. He was 'Tony Fucking Stark' and no one and no thing was going to capture him and hold him prisoner if he had anything to say about it. And he most certainly does.

When Pepper came home that night Tony was still at his favorite spot thinking on things and focusing on tuning out the feeling of eyes staring at him.

That night he got as much rest as he could even after waking up from another nightmare about New York, the void, and the things he felt as he delivered the bomb. Still, it was the sight of shadows at the corner of his eye that sent his heart racing even higher. _Bastards. Can't leave me alone for one goddamn day._

When Tony left in his jet for New York the sun had still not fully rose for dawn. It was striking to see their star bright star breaking through the clouds at the high altitude but even that beautiful sight wasn't enough to curb the cold pit in his stomach.

Bruce was going to be at the tower and while he was taken aback by Tony asking him to help him with some medical tests he didn't even put up a token resist effort. Tony would have rather done everything himself but this was going to require another extra set of hands. Normally Tony would have called in one of his private doctors on call but due to the sensitive nature of the situation Tony couldn't trust them. Not for this.

Fury must've already been informed about his trip and speculating why Tony would be coming back when everyone knew he had taken a leave from superhero duties. It was all he needed to have Fury riding on his ass about what was going on and why Tony needed medical tests. He hadn't got the call yet but Tony had an excuse waiting to use just in case. It was lucky for Tony that Bruce would not only help him with his exams but provide a suitable alibi for Tony as well. He offered as much when Tony told him about his concerns of Fury getting his hands on the test results playing off on his fears of Fury trying to get his hands on arc reactor technology.

Now, if only he could think of what to tell Bruce when he finally started to ask the 'why questions'. The truth wouldn't work. No, it couldn't work. It been ingrained in Tony since he was first told of the circumstances that he could never tell others. There was no point. Even if they knew there was nothing they could do to stop it and in fact they might hurt. _They_ never took kindly to those who offered physical resistance to that which they wanted and came to claim. They didn't like interference from outsiders in their games.

Faint tinkling laughter came to his hears again and Tony sighs trying to block it all out. _God be damned bastards._

The moment that Tony arrived in New York he got into his limo and was driven to the tower. He passed by construction crews and builders as they continued their work to fix what Loki and the Chitauri destroyed. They were finally starting to make headway finishing up the recovery and clean-up efforts.

It was silent as Tony walked into the elevator from the underground parking levels and rode up to his lab. The inside of his penthouse was still in disrepair as the remodeling crew wouldn't begin for another month. The city was needing all the help they could get and while Tony could wave large amounts of money to sway some to his tower it didn't seem right when he wasn't even living here anymore and the worst of the damage was already repaired, the rest could wait.

Tony arrived shortly to the medical lab to see Bruce already waiting for him. "Hey Bruce," Tony called out to him in greeting.

Bruce turned his head with a slight grin on his face. "Hey Tony. Mind telling me what this is all about?"

_That was fast. He must really be worried._ "I just need to run some scans for a check-up."

Bruce quirked an eyebrow showing how much he believed that statement. "Really? Then why not allow a real medical doctor to do the scans?"

Tony just lightly tapped his arc reactor and looked at Bruce, "I trust you with this."

Bruce's face lit up for a moment and Tony swore he might have an 'aw shucks' reply but he just turned back to the equipment. "Get undress and let's do this."

Tony felt a grin upon his face as happiness burst into his chest for the first time in months. It was nice to have someone around who not only appreciated the awesomeness of science but understood Tony as well. Tony chuckled lightly as he thought, _Science Bros 5eva!_

Bruce had taken a blood sample first thing before they began the rest of the examination. There was the x-rays that covered his entire body. Bruce looked at him funny for that. Then was the ultrasound which took the most time since Bruce did one limb at a time looking at the screen checking to see that everything was normal. It would have been infinitely easier to do MRI and fMRI scans but unfortunately his arc reactor stopped that. Tony had no inclination of having the metal ripped out of his chest by the enormous magnet.

It was half-way through the ultrasound on his abdominal area that Tony knew Bruce found something strange. It was the way his brow crinkled and he ran the scanner over the same area several times. As if he couldn't understand what he was seeing or why it was there. Tony felt apprehension in him that it would be something strange and cause Tony to spill the beans on what was going on.

"Bruce?" Tony queried wondering how bad this was going to be.

"It's nothing Tony." Bruce cleaned off the device and then wiped off his stomach. "Just a small growth. I'd keep an eye on it and test it again in a month. See if it changes, but your blood work shows that everything is okay. Unless you want me to find someone to do a biopsy on it there's nothing I can do about it."

"Biopsy?" Tony asked as he lightly gripped Bruce's wrist and felt a static tingle. _Cancerous? But, JARVIS said everything was fine. It has to be something else. But what type of growth could be...there?_ _That area. Fuck. So it's already begun._

"Only if you want to be on the safe side. It could be nothing. It could be something. Your blood work hasn't shown any abnormalities that would suggest it's cancer. I haven't tested it for everything yet, but JARVIS has run most of the tests and he hasn't informed us about finding something significant. But it is something to keep an eye on." Bruce told Tony as he patted his shoulder in comfort. "Now let's check the rest of you," as he applied the cold gel to Tony's chest.

It maybe an hour later when they finished and Tony was cleaning all the gel off of him that he noticed something out of his eye. It was a little more clear than it usually was.

Tony looked back at Bruce and then remembered the slight tingle when he gripped Bruce's wrist. He thought at first that it had to do with static electricity, but what if it wasn't? _Maybe..._

"Bruce?" Tony questioned quietly as he thought about how this was going to sound.

"Yeah, Tony?" Bruce queried.

"Take another blood sample." Tony told Bruce as he held out his arm.

Bruce looked at the arm then at Tony's face trying to read why Tony would ask him to take another blood sample as they already have a perfectly good one. "Why?"

"Just do it." Tony answered softly looking down at the floor as he waited for Bruce to do as he asked.

"Tony?" Tony knew that Bruce wanted to ask. He already thought there was something going on with the entire need for the exams, but he wasn't ready to talk about it. So Tony just lifted his head from his gaze on the floor and stared at Bruce, "Please."

Bruce was taken back by the word. If anyone knew Tony Stark than they knew he didn't ask or beg for anything. Not unless it was important. "I...I...fine." Bruce relented.

It was as Bruce was turning around and getting another syringe and had his back to Tony that Tony felt the urge to talk about what was happening and why he needed the tests. He wanted someone to confide in. So very desperately did he want to share his worries, his concerns, his fears about what was going to happen to him. What was happening to him. But his mother's softly spoken words from when he was sever rose once more in his mind, "You can tell no one Tony. No one must know. Not even your father. It is our burden to bare," and the urge left him once more.

After the blood had been drawn and the neurological scans to replace the fMRI was completed and the rest of the various medical tests finished Tony had decided to stay in the lab as Bruce worked over the information they collected. Tony had told him that it was unnecessary that JARVIS could handle it from there, but Bruce looked at Tony and told him that as his friend he couldn't possibly leave it up to chance that JARVIS might miss something. Tony was already feeling guilty for not confiding in him the truth and let it go. It wasn't like Bruce would be able to figure out what was wrong with Tony and the anomaly in his blood shouldn't be that recognizable, right?

Tony wanted to stay and watch Bruce as he went through the tests and compared the results to previous examinations and blood work but then he felt eyes upon the back of his neck and just decided it wasn't worth it. He couldn't hope to keep this information from everyone for long. His behavior would start to change radically and they will start to ask questions and then the truth will come out. So Tony called it a day, bid Bruce goodbye, and called his driver and the airport to make sure things were ready. He was going home.

As Tony walked into the elevator and headed down to the parking area all he could think of was the day in the next few months when he would have to tell everyone including Fury what was wrong with him. He wondered what face they would make as they realized there was nothing they could do. That everything was up to chance and the odds were low. Whose face would pale in horror? Become red with rage and frustration? Yell obscenities? Go quiet with dread? Who would be stuck in denial? How long would it take for them to accept the truth? That they can't save Tony; not from this.

The limo driver who wasn't Happy was waiting for him as he walked out of the elevator and to the vehicle. Happy would know that something was wrong with Tony and would want to talk about it. It would hurt Tony to shut him out of it because he knew Happy would be hurt over it, but Tony just wasn't ready to talk about it. Or anything about it. Tony missed Happy and the conversations they would have but right now he was better off watching Pepper in Malibu.

It wasn't long after they left the tower that JARVIS called Tony. "JARVIS, what's up?"

"I may have some good news to report sir." Jarvis responded with his clipped voice through the cell phone.

"Oh?" Tony felt a slight smile as his lips twitched. "Tell me all about it."

"You were right to request another blood sample. There was a minor change in the chemistry of it." JARVIS reported.

"How minor?" Tony asked a little nervous about Bruce being able to pick it up and the questions he might have when Tony wasn't ready to explain anything to anyone yet. Not until he had some time to himself to think about what he could or would say.

"Enough for me to pick up but I do not think enough for Dr. Banner to pick up since he does not know about what we are looking for in the samples." JARVIS stated as he continued his explanation.

"And?" Tony asked.

"It is my hypothesis that the change happened in the interval between when the first blood sample was taken and the second one." Tony already knew that it wasn't anything knew.

"You think it has to do with when I touched Brucey's wrist since he was wearing gloves the rest of the time during the exam when contact was made?" Tony questioned JARVIS.

"I believe so, sir." JARVIS responded.

Tony took a few moments to process what this means and what it could mean. "So he's a possible match and just by touching his skin the chemistry in my blood changed to reflect that. That means if we can devise a possible device for me to wear that can measure that change in my blood chemistry without me having to give a blood sample all the time then we can find other possible matches and compile a list of the best matching ones."

"Indeed, sir." JARVIS concurred.

Tony laughed. It was a strange combination of desperate and happy. "We have a working plan. A way to fight back. This IS good news."

"I agree, sir." JARVIS spoke with what Tony swore was a little smugness in his voice.

Tony sighed leaning back against the seat. "Yet, I'm still stuck in this 'fuck or die' situation. If I don't find a good enough match. If I don't get 'claimed' then they will take me and I will never come back."

"Yes, sir." JARVIS spoke and Tony swore he could hear sadness in JARVIS' voice. "There is a plan, sir, and there is over four billion people on this planet and any one of them could be a strong enough match."

"Do you really think that in the less than nine months I have left that I could possibly meet four billion people and test to check the viability of the match before fucking them?" Tony asked a little angry. It wasn't JARVIS' fault but the situation was getting to him.

"No, sir." JARVIS responded.

"Exactly. We need to find a pattern to all of this so we can eliminate refuse from the possible matches." Tony pondered to his AI.

"Sir," JARVIS continued as he asked, "you have mentioned that the possible matches are based upon the original perfect match. Your mate. Why can we not just find your mate?"

Tony chuckled in a self-depreciating tone. "Because that is impossible."

"Sir?" JARVIS queried.

"It's Loki." Tony responded as he stared up at the battered New York skyline evidence of Loki's last visit with the Chitauri. "Loki is my mate."

"Are you sure, sir?" JARVIS questioned.

"Yes." Tony fleetingly touched his neck where Loki grabbed him to defenestrate him out of his penthouse. "I know it was him. I didn't know then due to the battle and everything going on but I know now. Bruce confirmed it."

"How, sir?" JARVIS asked.

"I felt a slight tingle when I touched Bruce's wrist on that examination table. I thought it was a static charge or something but it came to me afterward when the exam was finished that I'd felt this before." Tony answered.

"During the battle with Loki?" JARVIS questioned.

"Yeah." Tony spoke softly. "When he grabbed me by my neck I felt a static charge but I thought it had to do with an after effect of him trying to use magic against me. Then the invasion had begun in earnest and I put it out of my mind." Tony trailed off as he thought about Loki and when they escorted him bound and gagged and Thor to the park to travel back to Asgard. It was the last that Tony saw of either of them and if Tony knew then what he knows now he would have snuck into the holding area and fucked him and had this situation over and done with. But, things never go that way for 'Tony Fucking Stark' things always have to go pear-shaped and leave him hanging on to dear life as he fought back with everything that he is to survive. It just wasn't meant to be.

"Thor has not returned." JARVIS commented.

"No, he hasn't," Tony agreed.

"There is no way to communicate with Thor or Asgard, either." JARVIS continued.

"Nope," Tony confirmed. "I doubt even if there was a way that they would hand him over for this. Not with all the crimes he committed. They might think of it as a reward when they are trying to punish him and what am I but a measly mortal to them? Why should they care about my fate?"

"Therefore, sir, your only chance is to hope that someone will be a close enough match to Loki in order to prevent you from being as you would say, 'spirited away'." JARVIS stated.

Tony agreed with a nonverbal tone. "What a fucked up situation this is, right JARVIS?" Tony spoke not really anticipating that JARVIS would respond. "Indeed, sir."

"Start to work on preliminary plans for the device. I want at least five different options for this to work by the time I get to the lab." It wasn't time yet to wallow in despair. Loki may not be here to save him, but Tony would find someone else who could. He was 'Tony Fucking Stark' who wouldn't want to fuck him?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: In the first chapter I hinted and hawed at what was Tony's issue. The reason being is because Tony and JARVIS already know and he's not going to inform anyone else for a very long time. However, people were confused about what was going on. So here's your answer.

* * *

When Tony Stark was seven years old there was a cousin of his mothers that everyone said he adored. His name was Michael and he was an agent of some sort that worked with his father and for the government.

Back then Tony thought he was like Captain America or James Bond going around the world and having adventures. He would never tell Tony what it was he did but he always brought a little souvenir from his trips for Tony. Michael was one of the few people who Tony thought honestly loved and cared for him. He was family.

Tony now knows that Michael was working for S.H.I.E.L.D. and that he was an undercover agent like Black Widow who would be sent on faraway missions. When he seven all he knew was that his cousin with his brown skin and hair had the deepest hazel colored eyes he had every seen and his arms were strong as they picked Tony up and tossed him in the air. He would always wait until the last minute to catch Tony around the waist and he would then hold him out and swing him around as Tony made noises like he was an airplane propeller.

Michael's visits were one of the few times where Tony felt like he could act like a normal kid. Howard certainly wouldn't play with him the way Michael did.

Michael was the first person that Tony loved with all his heart besides his parents. He was also the first person he ever lost and became a lesson in what grief and death is.

But he wasn't really dead. At least Tony didn't think so. Now he may be. But back then he was just _taken_ spirited away is what his mother called it. _They_ come for what is theirs and they spirit you away like a ghost in the night.

Michael was undercover on a mission in a submarine at the bottom of the ocean when they came for him. His erratic jumpy behavior had taken his crew mates by surprise as a few months into the voyage he would stare out into nothing for long spaces of time. He would as well often be found talking to himself.

The people he was with thought he was having a breakdown like how some sailors are unable to handle being in a tin can at the bottom of the ocean that could be crushed at any moment if they dive too deep or there is some sort of problem due to the pressure. They kept an eye on his behavior trying to decide if he was bad enough to need to be tossed out.

So it was a something of surprise to everyone one day when he was in the control room talking to the captain and then his faced drained of all color. "Now?" The S.H.I.E.L.D. report of his partner on the mission mentioned him asking and then he was gone. Right before the eyes of twenty men and women Michael was there one moment and then like a magicians trick was gone the next. They didn't understand what it was they just witnessed. They thought it was some trick of the light or a prank and they went looking for him. They nearly tore the submarine apart looking for him in any place that he could possibly hide, but he was gone. All of his belongings left behind untouched, but Michael was gone.

The mission ended as everyone was considerably freaked out and refused to go on. There were some who were insisting that they were next if they didn't stop what they were doing. That this is how things happen in horror movies. Panic had taken hold of the crew and there was a minor revolt with many injuries but the consensus was that the area the submarine was in was off limits and they returned to port their mission a failure.

It was the report of Michael's S.H.I.E.L.D. partner that enabled the Starks to know what happened. It was a younger Nick Fury and another person who arrived in the middle of the night demanding to talk to Howard. Tony doesn't remember much of what happened between them except for watching as his father ushered them into his lab, where Tony and his mother couldn't follow.

Tony remembers looking at her face and now Tony knows that she knew what had happened. That either Michael had told her on his last visit about the hallucinations he was having or maybe she knew because she could feel it. They can do that, the faelings. There is a sense they have when another of their kind has awakened and when they are taken. Tony doesn't know what that feels like, not yet. No one else has been awoken or taken since he was awakened.

His mother had looked at him and called him to her. She took him into his room and sat down with him on his bed. "Tony, do you understand what has happened?" She had asked him.

Tony didn't and he told his mother that. He remembers her face dropping after that.

"Tony, do you know what you are? What I am?" His mother asked quietly.

Tony recalls nodding and saying human and how his mother's face pinched. She had shaken her head then and spoke with a sad tone, "No Tony, not human."

Tony remembers being confused wondering what they were if they weren't human. The thought had entered his mind that they were some sort of alien like the B-horror movies he watched sometimes. He knows he asked some sort of question or said something but nowadays he can't recall what it was all he remembers is her reply, "Faeling, Tony. I am a faeling and you might be one too someday."

"Might be?" Tony asked her unable to understand how she could be one thing and he another. That was the moment his mother told him the legend of her family, her people, how they came to be and the curse that haunts them to this day.

It was over a thousand years ago when a young married Druid priestess was taken one night. She disappeared on her way back from the woods hunting for food. She had been gone for many months and her people thought her dead until one night she returned. Unlike how she had left she was now pregnant and there was talk about whose it was.

She had told her family the truth that she was taken by a Aes Sidhe and was brought to their fairy mound. There she engaged in sex with several of the Sidhe and when it was discovered she was pregnant she was returned to her people. She does not know why the pregnancy enabled her return nor why she was taken in the first place only that she was.

The offspring was a boy and he looked and behaved like a normal human being so they raised him as a normal human being. They never told him about his mother being taken by the fae or that he was a part of the fae. He married a young village woman and they had seven children, six boys and one girl. Their life was happy and peaceful through the years until his middle child started to act erratically shortly after he became of age.

He would be found staring out into the distance for hours at a time and reacted violently when disturbed. He was also discovered quite often to speaking to the air as if there was someone there. The erratic behavior increased and he started to act frightened and scared of any least bit thing. He confided in his father how he felt like he was being watched, how he would hear his name being called as if from a distance, how he could see shadows and people out of the corner of his eye, how through the passage of time their shapes and voices became more clear to him. He came to his father because he heard them speak clearly for the first time and they spoke about how he belonged to them and they were going to take him away and he would never come back.

The father was frightened and sought council in the Druid priests and priestesses and his mother finally spoke about what happened to her and what his sire was. Shocked at it all he asked his mother what he could do to prevent this and there was no answer. The family decided to arm themselves with iron weapons and slept in the young man's bedding area to guard him.

They came one night as the son was sleeping. All of the men had their swords and were guarding him as he slept. The lights from the fire in the hearth and torches alit the room so brightly that there wasn't even a shadow present. However, none of that prevented the son from being taken. One moment he was sleeping upon his bed and the next he was gone with no sign of any intruder. Ten eyes were upon the son as slept and ten eyes were upon the empty bed not but a second later. No one saw anything for there was nothing to be seen.

The father grieved his loss as the months went by and he hoped and prayed that his son would be the only one lost that whatever the fae wanted it was the end of it. However, his daughter, the youngest of them all, was the next one who was to befall the curse. Her behavior changed erratically like her brother's and the father confronted his daughter. She told him that she could hear voices calling out for her from afar. How there was this feeling inside of her that responded to those voices and she _knew_ they were calling her name. That she could see shadows skirting at the corner of her eye and she would feel as if someone was watching her. She told her father that it happened so slowly so rarely that she thought it was her mind making up things. Yet, it continued and so she feared she would be taken by the Sidhe like her brother was.

Her father felt a deep fear unlike any before as he realized not only was this to happen to another of his children but that this time he knew what the end result would be. He would lose another of his children and perhaps all of them in the end would be taken from him one by one.

This time he was more aggressive in how he guarded his child. All of the men in the village carried iron weapons as well as the women. Her brothers watched her closely and made sure she was always in sight. There was a friend of hers, a young lady new to village for only the past year, that was always within close proximity to the daughter. They even slept upon the same bed so that his daughter was always with someone who could protect her.

It was several months into the watch that the daughter discovered she was pregnant. She did not understand how this happened. She had not been with any man not since she met her guardian who never left her side. She had decided to hide the pregnancy from those around her afraid it might have something to do with the fae. The visions as she was calling it continued and after the time in which she discovered she was pregnant she was finally able to hear their words clearly.

She told her father about this and asked if she should try to communicate with them. That maybe if they understood why this was happening they could prevent others from being taken. The father was wary about this as he was feared his daughter would taken from him and agreed only if she would have her guardian and brothers with her in the room when she did this. She agreed.

It happened one day as she walking through the village that she spotted one of the Sidhe out of the corner of her eye and she began to speak to it. They responded and it was through this exchange that she learned why her brother was taken and why she may not. It was because they were not human, not completely. That inside them slept the magic of the Sidhe and when they had come into contact with their perfect match, a mate, the fae within them awakens and they start to go through a transformation.

This awakening of the fae within them is known to the surrounding Sidhe and they call for them to come with them to where they belong, in the fairy mounds and not with the mortals around them. She learned that the only way they can stay in the mortal world is if they are grounded by her mate and claimed by them. This claim is the pregnancy.

She was informed that her guardian, the young woman who has stayed by her side constantly, is her mate and as long as her mate is with her then she will stay in the mortal world. The Sidhe left shortly after that and the daughter ran to her father to tell him the news. He was happy and surprised that she would be able to stay with them and that she was pregnant. He was bewildered as to how a woman could impregnate another woman but he accepted her into the family for like the guardian she was heralded as she protected his precious daughter from being taken from them.

It was but a few years later that another of his sons was awoken. He, too, had spoken with the fae who came to visit him and he learned that sometimes their mate will not be known and they cannot be claimed, but that sometimes another person who closely resembles the mate will do as long as they are able to be claimed from this union. The son, his father, and their people searched high and low for whoever his mate or match could be but they never found them and one night he was taken.

Through the years and through the many awakenings of the fae blood within they learned the rules for this game the Sidhe would play. Others could be told but it mattered not as they would take their prey when the time came to pass. That it would be nearly a full year from the time of the awakening to when the new faeling would be taken in the midst of a dark night with no moon. The faelings who are able to stay in the mortal world are able to feel it when another has been awoken and taken. Those who are taken never return no matter how many years or decades pass. Every single person born from the line of the abducted Druid priestess is at risk of being awoken some day and taken if they are not grounded and that none of them are free from it. All that it takes is for their mate's skin to touch theirs to awaken the fae blood within them and then they are fair game to Sidhe.

One of the harshest lessons came over a hundred years after the first faeling was spirited away. A prince had fallen in love with one of the girls of the line and sought to marry her. He was not her mate, but he was a match and she was pregnant. However the fae continued their pursuit of her and she confided in him the truth of the curse upon her bloodline. He didn't believe her at first but as her behavior became more erratic and startling he began to do so.

So it was that he ordered the best of his guards to watch her every move and protect her. One night he was called away to meet with his advisers when the Sidhe came for his wife. The guards armed with iron swords fought back and some of the fae were wounded or killed. The Sidhe fought back with a fervent rage so terrible that they tore his guards apart with their bare hands. That blood and pieces of flesh dripped from the walls and ceiling when the prince and more of guards came running into the room attracted by the screams of his men. The door however was blocked by some force and they could not budge it. It was only as the last of the screams died off that the door opened and they were greeted by the blood soaked sight. There was no trace of the prince's wife. Several months later a bundle appeared in the prince's room. In it was his son from his wife with a note of what she named him.

It as then the family learned that if the fae want the faelings badly enough they will do anything to get them. That only a mate can keep them grounded and only then as long as the mate lived. The Sidhe had come and spirited away some of the grieving widows and widowers in the past. Some may have even called for the Sidhe wishing to be taken away from the mortal world when they could no longer be with their mate.

Tony was seven years old, a month shy of turning eight, with his mother telling him the tale of their bloodline and the curse within it that he learned that he could share his ancestor's fate and be taken one night with nary a whisper by the Sidhe. As well as that informing others was dangerous because if they got it into their heads to protect the faeling then the fae would tear them asunder. It was as his mother said, "their burden to bear."

Which was why a month after Tony's visit to New York that confirmed what he already knew – he was awoken as a faeling when Loki grabbed him by his neck – Tony hadn't spoken a word about it to anyone. He learned by doing all the exams the process his body undertook after it awoke as a faeling. The strange growth that Bruce found during the ultrasound on his abdomen was his uterus growing. The magic within him was prepping his body for a potential pregnancy.

Bruce had wanted to do the ultrasound again but Tony pushed it off by saying he did it himself and it had the same results as the one that Bruce did. Tony told him that the blood work was still clean and there wasn't any anomalies to speak of. He told him that maybe the growth was something that had always been there and thus was of no concern. Tony was lying his ass off but Bruce didn't know that and he took the prevarications at face value. Tony felt like such as asshole for doing this to Bruce when all Bruce wanted to do was help Tony out, but there was nothing else to be done. Another scan would only show that the growth had grown larger as Tony had confirmed just that last week in his lab surrounded by his bots and JARVIS going over the readout.

Bruce would have questions and Tony wasn't ready to give him the answers. Not yet.

The device that JARVIS and Tony built was shaped like a ample sized wrist watch that monitored his reactions to certain stimuli. It was just a prototype as JARVIS and Tony were working on another one that could compare the stimuli readouts to each other in a categorizing method to be able to show who of his matches would be the best possible match.

That this was happening while Tony continued to work on his autonomous suits and wireless interface for brain activated controls of the suits was the reason why it was taking so long to get the device as he wanted.

Tony figured however that with the implants in his body to control his suit it might also help with monitoring his blood chemistry levels to be able to detect any changes. It should be killing two birds with one stone.

Christmas was coming up and Pepper asked for a giant rabbit for some odd reason. Tony was still feeling guilty about everything and how he was going to have to break it to her eventually that he has a 'fuck or die' situation on his hands and thus he needs permission to go out into the great big world and fuck a lot of people in the hopes that one of them is able to knock him up so that he won't be spirited away from some Sidhe bastards for nefarious reasons, since she not only not his mate but not a possible match either.

Yeah, that conversation is one he really looks forward to having.

Which is why Tony is hoping to distract everyone by pissing off the latest greatest terrorist. Who the fuck calls themselves The Mandarin anyway? What is this, some 70's superhero comic?


End file.
